


This Bond Between Us

by bad_ash10



Series: We've Come a Long Way from Where We Began [6]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel
Genre: Baby Fic, F/M, Parent Melinda May, Parent Phil Coulson, Philinda - Freeform, Philinda Baby, hydra making a comeback, philindaisy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 05:24:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15942662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bad_ash10/pseuds/bad_ash10
Summary: Sequel to We've Come a Long Way from Where We Began. Basically I'm doing my own take on parts of the season 5 storyline. I hope you all enjoy!





	This Bond Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to @agentmmayy for being a wonderful beta for this story and always being such a dear when we chat! You're the best! :)

Melinda May had never been the domestic type. Tactical gear and combat came naturally to her but being stuck at home with a newborn while Phil was at work, was a challenge.

Melinda was exhausted, and it was all she could do to stay awake as she folded the third load of laundry of the day.

She loved her daughter, Lily, with every fiber of her being, but having a baby at 50 years old, after a ridiculously stressful pregnancy filled with rescues and man-hunts to find her team, had taken both a physical and emotional toll from which she was still trying to recover. And as Lily’s primary source of food, Melinda was never able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time.

As she finished folding the last burp cloth, Melinda was debating whether a shower, food, or sleep was the most important item on her agenda. Lily would be awake again soon, so her time was limited.

It had been easier when Phil was home with her the first six weeks. At least he made sure she always had food and did most of the unpacking as they moved into their new house. After a few more moments of debate, food won out. Melinda didn’t really like to shower when she was alone with the baby, and she knew she would just feel worse if she went to sleep for the short time before Lily was awake.

She glanced at her watch. _Thirty minutes max until she wakes up._

Melinda made her way to the nursery with an armload of onesies, blankets, and burp cloths and put them away before stepping toward the crib. A smile spread across her face as she saw the dark-haired bundle inside.

Looking at the baby, she could see a combination of herself and Phil in Lily’s features: her lips were the same shape as Phil’s, but she had Melinda’s nose, and her eyes were already a deep brown like Melinda’s.  May couldn’t resist running the back of a finger over the baby’s smooth cheeks, eliciting a sleepy yawn from her daughter.

Smiling more broadly, she double checked that the baby monitor was on before making her way back downstairs to get some lunch.

She had just finished making herself a sandwich when she heard the crunch of tires on the gravel in the driveway, followed shortly by the sound of a car door.

Within seconds, Melinda had grabbed the gun she kept hidden under the kitchen island and trained it expertly on the door, her body tense with anticipation. Someone tried the handle and realized it was locked. Melinda tensed momentarily before she heard keys jingling.

She breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that it was just Phil or Daisy, and placed the gun back safely into its hiding place as Phil came through the door. Even though their property bordered the base, with all of SHIELD’s enemies, Melinda was always concerned about Lily’s safety.

“Hey,” he said from behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and bending to softly kiss her cheek.

Melinda sighed contentedly. All of her lingering worries and stress melted away with Phil’s embrace. She turned in his arms, pulling him down for a kiss as she did so.

“Hey, yourself.” Melinda grinned as she reached behind him to grab her sandwich again. “Sorry, but I’m starving, and she’ll be awake soon,” she said before taking a huge bite.

“That’s ok. I’ll fix myself one too, and we can have lunch together.” He gave her a shy grin before rummaging in the fridge.

She swallowed her food before hopping up to sit on the counter, keeping her eyes on him as he fixed his lunch. Melinda still had a hard time believing that this was her life now: watching Phil fix a sandwich in the kitchen of a house he bought for her; for their family.

They were still adjusting to their new normal. Knowing each other for most of their adult lives they trusted each other explicitly, but this was relatively unchartered territory for them. Figuring out how to be a couple and new parents, took work.

Phil was just about to sit down when Melinda heard a whimper from the baby monitor. “Duty calls,” she sighed and made her way upstairs.

__________

Melinda had just gotten Lily fed and changed and was singing softly when she heard Phil behind her. Without turning around, she continued singing as she held her daughter to her chest.

“Do you want me to take her?” he asked. “Mack & Yo-yo are done with their mission and are headed back, so I don’t have to go back to in today.”

She sighed. “I would _kill_ for a shower. Especially since Daisy and Fitz-Simmons will be here soon.”

He reached out and gently took Lily in his arms. She squirmed and whined a bit but quieted as Phil put as a comforting hand on her. “As long as you don’t kill _me_ , have at it,” he whispered playfully to Melinda.

She rolled her eyes but secretly loved his ridiculousness. As Melinda left the room, she heard Lily start to fuss. She turned back instinctively, but Phil had already begun speaking in low, soothing tones. Lily started to quiet immediately, and Melinda saw her yawn as she settled in Phil’s arms.

__________

Twenty minutes later, Melinda walked toward the kitchen where Phil was chopping veggies for dinner and talking animatedly to Lily about his day. To keep from interrupting, she stopped at the entryway and propped against the door frame.

“And then they had to speed off in a hurry, but it all worked out for the best,” Phil told the baby. “I got my paperwork finished with the full report, so I could come home in time to chop all these veggies and put some nice chicken and some steaks on the grill,” he said. “Oh, and when Aunt Jemma gets here, she is going to do a short check-up tonight to see how big you’ve gotten!”

Lilly yawned widely in her portable bassinet. Phil chuckled. “Not impressed, are you?”

Just then, the kitchen door swung open, and Daisy breezed in, still in full gear from her training with several new Inhumans they recruited in the last month.

“Hey, guys,” she said tiredly, pulling out a chair at the dining table and flopping into it to begin pulling off her gear.

“Hey, no gauntlets on the table!” Phil chided.

Melinda saw Daisy roll her eyes as she made her way to the table, giving the girl a one-armed hug before joining her at the table. “How was training?”

“Was I a huge pain in your ass when we trained?” Daisy asked, receiving a snort of amusement from Melinda.

“Because they are driving me crazy,” she said, referring to the Inhumans in training. “Absolutely no discipline. They can somewhat control their powers, but they have the attention span of goldfish. Then they always think they know better than I do when it comes to strategy.” She kicked off her boots and pulled off the lycra jacket she wore to training.

May just smirked. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

Groaning heavily, Daisy grabbed her gear and headed upstairs.

Since Phil had finished chopping and was starting to pull food out of the fridge and laying out everything he needed on the countertops, Melinda scooped Lily up to take her to the nursery.

“Come on, baby,” she murmured, pressing her lips briefly to her youngest daughter’s temple. “Let’s go upstairs and see what your big sister is up to.” Turning her attention to Phil, Melinda said, “She’ll be asleep again soon if you want me to come help with dinner.”

Seeing her tired face, Phil came to her and enveloped her in his arms, fingers entwining over her lower back.

“I’ve got it under control,” Phil assured her. “Why don’t you take a nap with her, and I’ll wake you when everyone arrives?” He gently planted a short kiss on Lily’s dark hair before kissing Melinda as well.

She shifted slightly so she could rest her head on his chest. “Have I told you that you’re my favorite person in the world?” Melinda said into his shirt.

He chuckled in response and kissed the top of her head. “Get some rest, Mel.”

Melinda made her way upstairs, she and Lily both yawning widely as they reached the landing. “You’re ready for a nap, too, huh, kid?”

Daisy met her in the upstairs hallway. “Hey, can I ask your advice on this training situation?”

May groaned inwardly since she would have to postpone her nap. “I’m putting her down for a nap, but she might fall asleep faster with a song from her big sister. Come on.” She led the way to the master bedroom.

They tried to get Lily to sleep in her bassinet, but no amount of singing from her or Daisy would work this time.

Giving up, Melinda picked Lily up and laid on the bed with her. She knew it was against all of the recommended parenting advice to spoil Lily `to co-sleeping, but she did the same thing for Daisy when she needed comforting. There was no way she would let her girls be without their mother when they needed her.

“Ok, Dais. You have a few minutes until she falls asleep, so we can either talk now or later,” Melinda said as she stifled another yawn.

Lily made a little snuffling noise that meant she was about to begin crying. Melinda sighed and moved to pull the baby to her, but Daisy stopped her. “It looks like you need some sleep, too,” she said. “I’ll see if I can convince her to nap. I’ll pick your brain later.”

Melinda started to object, but Daisy interrupted as she gently slid Lily closer to her.

“I’ve got her. Get some sleep.” Daisy made no move to get off the bed, but instead laid back on the pillows and began humming softly as she stroked the baby’s cheek with one hand and rubbed Lily’s tummy with the other.

May saw Lily yawn again, but no fussing or squirming followed this time. Daisy’s soft humming and comforting touch had already nearly put the fussy baby to sleep, and Melinda had to smile at the sweet sight before her. The events of the last year had turned her world upside-down, but she knew she wouldn’t go back to the way things were before; not even if her life depended on it.

__________

Apparently, May had fallen asleep, because she awoke feeling surprisingly energized when she heard Simmons and Fitz arrive downstairs. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she saw Daisy had fallen asleep with Lily. Easing herself carefully off the bed to avoid waking her daughters, she padded silently out the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

From the staircase, May could hear arguing, “Fitz, I thought you were bringing in my other bag!” Simmons exclaimed from the living room.

“No, I said I would bring it in when you got ready for it. Not right now for it to just take up unnecessary space in the house, Jemma! I still don’t see how one bag wouldn’t hold everything you need to examine a baby.” answered the familiar Scottish brogue.

“You know I have to do a follow up for…”

“Guys,” interrupted May as she entered the room. “Lily and Daisy are napping upstairs; can we keep it down a bit?”

“Sorry,” Fitz-Simmons chimed in unison, looking like guilty children as they did so.

Melinda glanced out the window and saw Phil outside diligently flipping chicken and steaks on the grill, so she took her chance to get some info out of Fitz-Simmons.

“What’s the latest?” she asked. “Any word on those Hydra rumors?”

Simmons looked slightly taken aback at the fact that May was even aware of the rumors given the fact that she was still on maternity leave. “Pardon me?” She said with a quick glance to Fitz who looked equally uneasy by the doorway.

Phil was doing everything in his power to keep her “relaxed” while she was on maternity leave, but after months of being miserable as acting director, Melinda surprisingly missed being immersed in the comings and goings back at base.

May crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. Fitz gulped and mumbled something about going to get Simmons’ other bag from the car.

As the door shut behind him, May turned to Simmons. “Well?”

Simmons sighed. “You probably know Coulson told us not to discuss it.” At May’s impassive glare, Simmons sighed again. “Fine. But no whining when it’s time for your exam later. Against my better judgment, I’ve allowed you to put off your second follow-up for over a week now.”

May scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

Simmons studied her for a moment and glanced out the window to make sure Coulson was still busy at the grill.

“Well,” she began somewhat hesitantly. “I don’t have all the details, but… we think Hydra is still out there and starting to realign themselves. We don’t know the full details, but that’s why Mack and Yo-yo left today. Hopefully, they’re going to have information on who is spearheading the new Hydra when they get back. If so, they’ll be going undercover within the next few months and staying there until we figure this out.”

“Why them?” Melinda asked. “Mack isn’t exactly inconspicuous. He won’t blend in as easily as you did when you were undercover.”

“Mostly because of Elena. Her powers will likely be very useful. And you know Mack wasn’t going to let her go alone.” Simmons paused for a moment as she turned to busy herself straightening the already perfectly organized items in the bag still in her hand.

“What else, Simmons?”

Simmons paused. “Well, they don’t know for sure, but somehow General Talbot was checked out of the hospital against medical advice, but not by his wife.” She informed Melinda. “We are trying to determine if the person who checked him out is somehow involved with Hydra. It just seems like too much of a coincidence not to be connected. Especially since we can’t seem to find Talbot at the moment.”

“So, who signed him out if it wasn’t his wife?” _Who would have that authority?_

Just then, Coulson came through the door carrying a plate piled high with their dinner while he was chatting away with Fitz.

Under her breath, May mumbled, “We’ll finish this conversation later.”          

__________                                                       

Dinner was filled with laughter and light-hearted chatter around the table while everyone ate. With each passing day, everyone seemed a little less damaged by their time in the Framework and, in the case of Daisy and Fitzsimmons, being tortured and/ or imprisoned. Melinda mostly listened to the team and reminisced about their days on the Bus.

Suddenly, Phil placed a hand just above her knee and squeezed gently, “Thinking about the good ol’ days?” he asked with a grin.

She gave him a small smile in return and leaned into him to whisper. “How’d you know?”

“Because I know _you,_ Melinda.” A statement that started out as innocent ended with him giving her an almost hungry look and his hand creeping slowly up her thigh.

Her breath caught in her throat as his fingers stroked her inner thigh. “Phil. Not in front of the kids,” she hissed.

Coulson looked at the three Bus kids across the table and made sure they were still engaged in their own conversation before whispering in her ear, “As soon as Simmons clears you medically, we have _plenty_ to catch up on.”

A shiver of anticipation ran through her body as Phil moved his hand back down her thigh.

She glanced almost guiltily up at the younger agents across the table, and they had thankfully not noticed the exchange, still immersed in their conversation about some new Star thing. _Star Wars_ or _Star Trek_ maybe? Melinda couldn’t keep them straight.

___________

As soon as plates were cleared from the table, Simmons plucked the sleeping baby from her rocker, and in no uncertain terms told Melinda to follow her.

“No more procrastinating, May,” she said. “Let’s get this over with, so we can enjoy the rest of the evening without dreading an exam, shall we.”

Melinda rolled her eyes as she stood from the table. “Fine,” she said following Jemma to the den that had been temporarily turned into a make-shift exam room.

Simmons set the baby on the couch and started unwrapping her from her blanket and onesie.

“I figure we’ll do baby first, May?” Although Simmons was extremely gentle with her movements, Lily was not a fan of being stripped down to just her diaper and was snuffling unhappily.

“I’m sorry little lovely,” Simmons cooed gently. “It won’t last too long, and we can get you back in your blankie and all snuggled up again.” Simmons placed her gently in the scale, and Lily decided she was done cooperating and started crying at the top of her little lungs.

“Oh, excellent!” Simmons exclaimed. “She’s now gained 18 ounces from her birth weight. That is excellent, May.” Jemma saw May standing by the scale and could tell she was itching to comfort Lily and stop her crying. “Go ahead and pick her up, I can do the rest with her in your arms if you want.”

Melinda scooped Lily up and spoke soothingly to her. By the time Simmons had made notes on her weight and picked up her stethoscope, Lily had quieted to only an occasional sniffle.

“I must say, that’s quite remarkable that you can get her to calm down so quickly.”

Melinda didn’t even look up and was still speaking softly to Lily, who was studying her intently. “It usually works for Daisy or me to talk to her. She’s getting there with Phil.”

“She likely remembers your voices from inside the womb,” Jemma explained. “But she is a relatively relaxed baby. How’s she sleeping?”

In the end, Simmons granted Melinda a clean bill of health and guaranteed Lily was as perfect as could be.

As Jemma packed up her instruments and scale, May cornered her. “I hope you noticed I kept every sarcastic comment to myself during the exam,” she said. “Now I need some answers, Simmons. Who checked Talbot out of the hospital?”

“I should’ve known you wouldn’t forget.” Simmons sighed and turned to look at May, who still looked just as intimidating as ever, even though she was cradling a tiny pink bundle in her arms.

“An Air Force general,” Jemma admitted. “But we can’t figure out why. Talbot’s wife was under the impression he was going to a special military hospital, but it turns out the information she was given was completely fabricated.”

“And this is why you think it’s related to Hydra,” May continued for her.

“Yes.” Jemma nodded. “We don’t know if General Hale is Hydra or if she is taking orders from someone else. But you didn’t hear any of this _from me.”_

 

 


End file.
